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My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

This has not been a happy day for me . I was using my Aleph 1 at my work bench in the basement and momentarily laid it down. Lucky for me I did, the next thing I heard was a crackling/ hissing sound and noticed the lens was clouding up and than the loud explosion (which my wife heard on the second floor) followed by a yellow flame coming out of the reflector . I'm a lucky man some how I turned away from the work bench and avoided the flying glass from the lens. You can see the destruction in the picture.I was using Battery Station's CR123A's in the Aleph. I will not point fingers, but claims by others about exploding CR123A's has now made me a beliver. I will be using SureFire CR123A's from now on! This Aleph 1 was one of my all time favorite lights that I bought from Don. This Aleph 1 was a 2x123 5 w. with a BB700 and a 15 ohm tail switch. I'm hoping I can get the Light Engine replaced along with the refelector and lens, I haven't checked the tail switch yet to see if it fryed. I will have to get some $ together to either get someone to rebuild Aleph or maybe do it myself. This has been very upsetting to say the least.

Last edited by Barefootone; 07-22-2007 at 03:10 PM.
Reason: not finished

Re: My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

Thanks all for your concerns, I'm OK. These were primary battery's not rechargeable. Yes there are two cells in the picture, the very burned one was the front cell closest to the Light Engine and the other cell was the back one closest to the switch. I'm so lucky I had put the light on the work bench or I might have been badly burned, I can't tell you how freaking hot the battery tube was.

Re: My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

Glad you weren't hurt. Lucky you turned away when you did! That makes me think that maybe paying a little more for Surefire batteries would be a good idea. I use Titaniums now. Never tried battery station batteries.

Re: My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

The important think is to figure out WHY the it happened.

Were both batteries facing the same direction in the tube?

Was the light ON at the time?
Were these primaries?
I would be willing to bet that the manufacture would like to know that this happened and they would most likley replace the light if it were to turn out to be the fault of the battery vs operator error.
The rechargable cells are supposed to have a protection circuit.
I would definatly contact the seller and ask what the comapnies policy is regarding mal functioning cells.
put all of the parts into a ziploc bag and seal if in order to perserve the evidence as much as possible.

It is important to get to the bottom if this in order to prevent this from happening and possibly injuring sombody.
You were lucky.
Yaesumofo

Re: My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

Originally Posted by yaesumofo

The important think is to figure out WHY the it happened.

Were both batteries facing the same direction in the tube?

Was the light ON at the time?
Were these primaries?
I would be willing to bet that the manufacture would like to know that this happened and they would most likely replace the light if it were to turn out to be the fault of the battery vs operator error.
The rechargeable cells are supposed to have a protection circuit.
I would defiantly contact the seller and ask what the companies policy is regarding Mal functioning cells.
put all of the parts into a ziploc bag and seal if in order to preserve the evidence as much as possible.

It is important to get to the bottom if this in order to prevent this from happening and possibly injuring somebody.
You were lucky.
Yaesumofo

Hello Yaesumofo, Yes the Aleph was on when the explosion occurred. For sure the cells were installed in the right direction and facing toward the head since the Aleph was illuminated. These were battery station CR123 A's, primary cells. I have all the parts in a good snap lid storage container I plan on calling Battery Station tomorrow and seeing what they have to say. I have thrown away my remaining stock of 10 battery's, I don't want them in the house! I feel incredibly lucky not to have been injured and I'd like nothing better than to get to the bottom of this for sure. Thanks for your concern, Jeff

Re: My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

If you inhaled any fumes or handled debris with your bare hands, seek medical attention promptly for potential hydrofluoric acid exposure. Symptoms are not immediately apparent but do require treatment.

Battery Station ought to pay for a replacement Aleph. This is around the fourth BS cell explosion reported on CPF; by now the idea of legal liability should be rather central in their minds.

Re: My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

Did the rubber at the tailcap also explode?
And was the lens shattered or did the bezel give way?

Glad you're ok. Scary. Very Scary.

bernie

There is a type of perfection that transcends the quest for lumens. Buying a $250 1-cell light for "lum factor" is like buying a $250 single malt Scotch for the alcohol content. - paulr
It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black.
My shoes are too tight. But it doesn't matter, because I have forgotten how to dance.

Re: My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

Many users rarely read the LED section, and this is important enough for people asking about Lithium Ion safety to learn from his experience...

Safety issues for lithium ion are different from those for lithium primaries.

If anything, lithium ions look to be safer then lithium primaries. Primary cells have gone off pretty much at random while lithium ion cells must be abused first, and even then are only dangerous when charging.

Re: My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

I am very glad you were not hurt, and I hope you won't mind a few questions, which might just help with this:
1. Did you buy both the cells at the same time and from the same outlet?
2. Did you install both cells in the light at the same time?
3. Are you 100% sure both cells were fresh, and that neither of them had been used before, even for a short while?
4. How long had the cells been running in the light when this happened?

I suggest before someone takes away the trash, you should rescue the other 10 cells from the dumpster and store them somewhere in a cool dry place but safely away from your house. They may be required for investigation.

Re: My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

Originally Posted by Kiessling

Did the rubber at the tailcap also explode?
And was the lens shattered or did the bezel give way?

Glad you're ok. Scary. Very Scary.

bernie

Bernie, It's nice to hear from you. The rubber at the tail cap did not explode it stayed intact. The lens shattered and the metal internal ring that holds the lens in stayed intact. Yes it was very scary, it shook me up. Jeff

Re: My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

Originally Posted by DM51

I am very glad you were not hurt, and I hope you won't mind a few questions, which might just help with this:
1. Did you buy both the cells at the same time and from the same outlet?
2. Did you install both cells in the light at the same time?
3. Are you 100% sure both cells were fresh, and that neither of them had been used before, even for a short while?
4. How long had the cells been running in the light when this happened?

I suggest before someone takes away the trash, you should rescue the other 10 cells from the dumpster and store them somewhere in a cool dry place but safely away from your house. They may be required for investigation.

DM51,Thanks for the concern1. The Battery station CR123's were bought directly from the battery all at the same time.2. Both the cells were installed in the light at the same time.3. Both the cells were fresh or as fresh as they could have been when I received them. The two cells had never been used before. I installed them as brand new cells for the first time.4. The light had been running for 5 to 10 minutes at the most.I actually did retrieve the 10 cells that I threw away for the same reason you stated. I plan on calling the battery station tomorrow and see what their position is with this very dangerous issue.Thanks for the input,Jeff

Re: My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

Oh man!! Glad you weren't near the light at that time. Seems like BS batteries are really BS. There have been many cases of exploding batteries here in recent times, all CR123as. Were there any Surefire battery cases?

Everytime I read a thread like this, I really worry about all the flashaholics here who EDC a light so close to them most of the time. I use only rechargeables in all my lights but recently got 6 x Surefire CR123as with my M6, which sit in the MB-20 battery magazine. I'm treating them as a potential timebomb and keeping them separate from my other batteries.

Can't imagine 6 batteries catching fire at the same time; that will be really bad news.

Re: My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

Hi Jeff,
Most important you and no one else was hurt!! I am pretty certain Wayne and Cindy have the components needed to get the light back together and I would be happy to cover the expense of getting you what you need to accomplish this. If you can E-mail me a list of what you need I will forward it to Wayne and Cindy.

Newbie did those tests back a ways and was able to get some events to occur with the batteries used here and the 5W boost converter, if I recall correctly.

LEDcandle, Thanks for the reply. I have not heard of any SureFires 123's exploding, but I have read that the Battery Stations have exploded as I now know. Jeff

theres two ancient threads containing surefire cell incidents, but at least 4 on batterystations
one was the first primary lithium cell scare of CPF I know of [the one with the battery shooting through a cabinet door and the Pelican M6 incident] and the other was an incident involving a single cell venting in a surefire M6 carriage

theres at least one known case of cyclops cells and titanium cells....see the provided NewBie link

Re: My Aleph 1 Exploded and cought on fire.

Glad no one was hurt. Before this I didn't realise something like this could happen. I could not imagine if something like this happened to someone you love, such as kids or wife (they frequently handle/use them all the time).